Proposed by Walter Besant, the first People's Palace was built by the Beaumont Trustees, ‘Unitarian philanthropists’, to replace Beaumont's Philosophical Institution which had been in Beaumont Square.
It was built on 5 acres of land on the Mile End Road, starting with the Queen's Hall, opened in 1887. By 1892 a library, swimming pool, gym and winter garden had been added. Entertainment and education were provided and by 1900 the University of London introduced a Bachelor of Science degree. It burnt down in 1931 but the educational sections were quickly rebuilt as Queen Mary College. In 1937 a hall, called the People's Palace (pictured here), was built and in 1954 was subsumed into QMC.
Queen Marys hold a (annoyingly that link is dead, 2024).
The has a description of the 1937 hall and how it has been restored and used.
Sources include: , .
Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in to see them